Athens and beyond 14-21st April

[henryscatoscar]

HI, we shortly going to athens. The thought is 2 nights in Athens. See the sites then off to a beachy place. We've got 7 nights in total. is there a coastal place easy to get to which has an ok beach. any hotel recommendations. I dont know if easter causes an issue as I thought Greek orthodox easter was slightly different dates.

thanks

I don't know if it's warm enough for beach weather then. I would have a look at ferry and Hydrofoil timetables from Athens at that time from Piraeus and then look at accommodation. I once went to Agena from Athens on a cruise and it was nice but I might have got bored after a couple of days.

I went on a city break to Thessaloniki last year and I loved it. I preferred it to Athens actually. It is quite a way from Athens though .I think you can do it on a train or short internal flight but that would be my recommendation. Thessaloniki isn't beachy as such but you can get to Halkidiki from there and the area around the seafront in the city itself is nicer than Athens so it felt beachy.

I also would look at a ferry, Piraeus is a short distance from Athens

thanks. I found somewhere else where someone had said about Hydra which is 45 minutes by Ferry. Do you have any tips on getting from central athens to the ferry port and where to go from there?

thanks

From memory Monastraki square in the centre of Athens is about 20 mins from the station near Piraeus ferry port which is 15 minutes walk from Piraeus, it all depends on which dock the ferry goes from.
I would ask on Trip advisor forum or Cruise critic as some one will have done it recently and know the detail, I am sure the Greek train website is also in English but I can ask my daughter if you get stuck as she has been to Athens recently and might know the best travel website .
Its all about planning

I stayed in Monastraki first and then did a few nights in Piraeus.. I liked the hotel in piraeus so much I stayed an extra couple of nights. Piraeus Dreams. it was a few years ago but it still gets good reviews.

Agree re trains but check these too as yes Orthodox easter isn't usually the same but it is this year and could disrupt things. I didn't think public holidays had much of an effect in Greece but it did in Thessaloniki last year. We were there over a public holiday and everything except a few bars, restaurants and coffee shops were closed. We just did everything we wanted to before the public holiday. Check with the locals.

Also do all the touristy stuff early in the day before the cruise ships got in. They were just arriving when we got to the acropolis and I felt very smug to have avoided the crowds.
It most definitely is all about planning!